Chuck Norris! Bo Derek Nude! Charles Bronson!
Three of the biggest stars of the 80’s all made wild cult movies for one renegade movie company – Cannon!
I love movie history – and here is one of the most fascinating movie documentaries that celebrates the wacky 80’s movie company known as Cannon films!
Time For Some “Electric Boogaloo!”
This great documentary is called “Electric Boogaloo”, and it’s a terrific in-depth look at Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus – two movie-obsessed cousins who launched a film company in the late 70’s that released some of the best B-movies of all time, such as:
“Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo!”
That’s right, the breakdance sensation of the early 80’s led to the hit film “Breakin'”, which had a sequel with one of cinema’s most ridiculous titles of all time – and of course, it was a Cannon film!
Check out the trailer for this new documentary:
Time For Some Cannon Classics!
Cannon Films was known for such b-movie classics as “Enter the Ninja”, “Death Wish 2” and the legendary Chuck Norris action film “Invasion USA!”
Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus started Cannon films in 1979, and in the 80’s offered up a never-ending array of low-budget exploitation films and star-studded films like the erotic film “Bolero” with Bo Derek!
Bo Derek was a huge star due to the popularity of the film “10”, and Cannon took advantage to sell a film promising lots of sex!
According to Bo Derek, Producer Menahem Golan would even send her and Director/Husband John Derek memos to make the film more “erotic”!
Oh, and what about this?
Olivia d’Abo, who was 14 at the time, appeared nude in several scenes in the film like this!
Cannon also loved to make cheesy action movies like Sylvester Stallone’s arm wrestling epic “Over The Top!”
JCVD! JCVD!
The cousins loved action films, which were popular all over the world, so they churned out a lot of them, working with Stallone, Chuck Norris as well as Jean-Claude Van Damme!
The documentary is full of clips from movies such as “Bloodsport” along with interviews with Molly Ringwald, Alex Winter and Dolph Lundgren, who starred in “Masters Of The Universe!”
Golan and Globus were high flyers at the Cannes film festival every year – and legend has it they once signed a deal to do a film on a cocktail napkin at the Carlton Hotel!
Director Mark Hartley has done a great job bringing this story to life…capturing the “anything goes” era of 80’s filmmaking – Cannon never made critically-acclaimed movies, but that wasn’t their goal, and a lot of these movies are still cult hits today!
Probably one of the most fascinating stories about Cannon involves America’s favorite super hero: and how Golan and Globus managed to get the rights to make a fourth “Superman” movie with Christopher Reeve!
Let’s not forget this Cannon “wild wild” Sci-Fi gem:
Yes, Actress Mathilda May is a space Vampire who loves to work in the nude! See the trailer – and all of Mathilda – by clicking on my story about his Cannon gem here:
There are so many great stories to share and campy movies to celebrate, all thanks to the renegade movie company known as Cannon!
Wait! There Are Even More Great Movie Docs To Share!
I’m now officially a huge fan of Director Hartley, not only for this film but he also made the terrific documentary “Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation”!
This is also a great inside look at the world of Australian exploitation! “Mad Max” got his start down under, and this documentary shows you some of the wildest movies ever to come out of Australia!
Click here to see the trailer for this documentary:
Hartley was also the Director of another fun documentary – that takes you inside the world of exploitation film courtesy of The Philippines!
“Machete Maidens Unleashed!”
Yes, the wild “anything goes” world of filming in the Philippines in the 70’s is covered thoroughly!
This is a great look at low budget cinema from around the world…check out the trailer and lots of revealing photos by clicking here:
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Categories: 70's Films, Artsploitation, Books / Media, Camp Cult Classics, Classic Action Films, Classic Horror, Cult Classics, Exploitation Films, Grindhouse, JRsploitation, Nudity, Talent / Celebrites
The only one of these I have seen is Death Wish 2. I do have ‘Lifeforce’ on DVD but haven’t watched it yet. As for the rest, I doubt I would ever watch them. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I miss the 1980s! 😦
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Yes indeed, wild times for sure1. Thanks for commenting!
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